The acknowledgement of the incredible capabilities of performance SUV’s has been slow coming in some of the more stubborn enthusiast circles. We’re now at the point though where that position becomes just about untenable.

Sure, the Flat Earth Society is still in business, but no one considers its members credible. Scoff at performance SUV’s for much longer, and you risk becoming one of “them.”

A while back we published an article entitled Is a Sport SUV now a sports car substitute? We concluded in that article that there was, and perhaps always will be a tangible difference in driving experience between a performance SUV and a sports car.

​However, some recent seat time in a current gen BMW X6 M has us softening that position some.

Take our word for it – the X6 M is a complete and utter freak, and is absolutely something that could do a canyon or back road drive justice. Many performance driving enthusiasts would be content owning the X6 M in isolation.

Performance SUV progress is much the same over at Porsche. The Macan is, according to many, the closest one can get to a sports car experience in an SUV body, and it’s been almost unanimously well-received since introduction.

To assess exactly where the Macan Turbo stands in relation to current sports cars, Auto Express pitted it against the BMW M2 in a hot lap contest (video below).

Dry condition, hot lap grip between these two tires is just about a wash. The ContiSportContact 5P is actually an OE alternative tire for the F8X BMW M3 & M4, which were initially equipped with only the Pilot Super Sport as well.

No matter the result, we're not suggesting that the Macan Turbo is as suitable as the BMW M2 as a HPDE/Track day car. But in terms of driving dynamics in short spurts, and sheer one lap capability?...